Sunday morning saw the swimming, biking and running of the Iron Goddess Triathlon at Waterloo Recreation Area.  For two very good reasons, I was there as a photographer rather than as a participant:

1. I never learned how to swim, I can’t ride a bike, and — trust me — it’s in everyone’s best interest for me not to try to run unless I’m running from some sort of life-threatening situation.  If you’re not convinced, consider this (hilariously accurate) search string somebody used to find my website: “handicapped photographer chelsea mi”.
2. As the event’s name suggests, the Iron Goddess Triathlon is only for women.

Since I couldn’t take part in the intentional exhaustion, I began work on the modern photographer’s triathlon — shoot/process/blog — while the women worked on the traditional swim/bike/run triathlon.

The day started with a nice refreshing swim in Portage Lake.

One racer was particularly happy to have finished the swim.

The next step was a bike ride.

The race concluded with a run.

Near the end of the course, organizers wrote encouraging and informative messages on the pavement.

There were plenty of family members to cheer on the racers.  Since cute sells newspapers, I kept my eye out for kids cheering on their moms.  These girls — two sets of two sisters — had a good time cheering on their moms.

This young man shared a high five with his dad.

This young man even brought a handmade sign with a pithy message: “Yay mom”.

After all that effort, racers were glad to cross the finish line.  Some were too weary to exult in the accomplishment, but that wasn’t a problem for this racer, the overall third-place finisher in her race.